On Saturday 5^th March, a number of students attended an English Literature Taster event at Oxford University. Students were given a wealth of information about studying English including the interview process, lectures and employment opportunities arising through study at Oxford University.

We arrived at Oxford at around 11a.m., and from there we walked through the cobbled streets to St. Catherine’s College, stopping along the way to view some of the more colourful buildings that have become such a part of Oxford. Once we arrived at St. Catherine’s College there was a brief greeting from two students standing by the door before we received our name tags and some gratefully received refreshments. After half an hour we were led into the first Lecture Theatre which featured a talk on studying English Literature at St Catherine’s College, Oxford and what it would entail: mostly poetry and Old/Middle English texts. We then attended a lecture by an English Professor, who gave each person in his lecture theatre a booklet which featured texts from playwrights such as Shakespeare, and guided us through each of the six texts and extracts.

After the lectures, all of the attendees were split up into groups, and from there we were led around the college by an outgoing Oxford student (James) who had a lot of good advice and guidance. James’ advice came over lunch, which contained detailed discussions about nationalities and ethnic backgrounds, followed by advice on what to include on your CV. We visited the library (which was actually smaller than I expected it to be but it must have contained all of the relevant English Literature), dormitories and the gym. A final rendezvous took place in the Lecture Theatre where the tour began and we enjoyed a one and a half hour talk on preparing for the interview at Oxford and how to improve our chances of getting in, followed by a Q&A with some of the students currently taking English Literature at Oxford. A fascinating trip which gave us a good insight as to how English Literature is taught at Oxford University.

We would like to thank Oxford University for inviting us to attend. I would also like to thank the school who kindly paid for us all and our thanks go to Mr Dubay.  I look forward to making an application to Oxford University when I finish my GCSE exams – in English of course!

Max Henry (11 Alfred)

We have raised over £1,600 for Sport Relief through a variety of student led activities. Well done and thank you to everyone who took part.